Postgame Quotes: vs. Illinois

Postgame Quotes
Illinois at Indiana
September 2, 2022

Tom Allen | Head Coach
Opening Statement
TA: I just want to congratulate our football team on a really gritty performance. Just so proud of them, finding a way to win. I knew it was going to be a tough physical game. They were a tough physical football team. I have respect for Coach Bielema, the job he's done there. They're long and athletic.

Got a lot of things to work on, there's no doubt about it. But there's a lot of power in finding a way to win a game like that. There's a lot of -- so many positives that it creates in your team, the belief. And what we've been through the whole past year, trying to get a Big 10 win and our first one. It's just massive. I can't put enough words to how important this game was and how important it was to find a way to win, to go 80 yards with no timeouts. Connor Bazelak was awesome. Threw for 330 I guess the numbers shown. It's only going to get better, going to get a lot, lot better.

So proud of the grit of our defense. That goal line stand was special. Cam Jones, I can't say enough things about that young man. He's the heart and soul of this team. I knew it going into the game, and it showed during the game. He got injured. I still don't even know the severity of it yet, but he just -- he gritted right through it. He wasn't going to come off that field. He didn't just go out there, he went out there and made plays after he got injured. So much respect for him as a person and as a player. And I could go on and on about this team. This team's got character, this team's got toughness, this team's got grit. We've got to get a whole lot better one week at a time.

Questions.

On Connor Bazelak's poise in the game and on the sideline…
TA: That's the way he always is. That's one of the variables that stuck out to me since he's been here. He's extremely poised. And, like I said, it showed in that moment when you have to be under complete composure and find those open receivers and be accurate. And I thought he was accurate most of the night.

I haven't watched the film obviously, but that one pick should have been a catch; it was a tipped ball. Just thought he just slid in the pocket a little bit, used his legs a little bit, get some key first downs, extend some plays a little bit and did what he needed to do. Bottom line is last time I checked -- yeah, we got more points than they do. So that's the most important stat. There we go.

On if he said anything to the offense before its final drive…
TA: Yeah. I just told them one thing, go score. You know, I didn't tell them how to go do it. They know what we need to do. I said, guys, we've got to get a touchdown. We've got 80 yards to go, no timeouts. What we did talk about though at the end, based on how many times -- I was on the headsets with the offensive staff talking about based on when we scored the point differential there about whether we'd go for 2 or go for an extra point because of the whole threat of getting it blocked, just all those dynamics you go through. So, we talked about that.

But, no, I'm not a micromanager as a coach. I never have been I never will be. You hire coordinators, you let them coach. And obviously with myself involved in the defense like I am now, that's going to be even more so. But at the same time, I didn't do it in the past. Obviously, I know what they're doing. But especially in those moments, you've got to be able to think. You can't have somebody in your ear telling you what to do. And you hire somebody, and you trust them. It's what you got to do. I don't like somebody telling me, hey, run this, run this, do this, do that. So, you have a flow. You have a reason for doing things.

No. I was not in there. I am on the offensive side of the headsets when they're on the field majority of the time, yes. And we're talking about clock management, use of timeouts. But we've got a guy in the box that's telling me when to call timeout and those different things and when we've got to make certain decisions. So, we're pretty systematic about that. But the bottom line is, I hire coordinators to call plays. And they have that role. And that's what they're assigned to do and that's what they do. And I'm going to give them that authority and that power to do so.

On his evaluation of the offensive line…
TA: I think they have a really good front. And they played a lot of bear type defense. It's really just stacked to stop the run. And they play man behind it, try to make it hard to do those kind of things.

But, obviously, we made them pay for that with our passing game. We've got to work on that. There's no doubt about it. We'll got a lot better. We've got to get Matt Bedford healthy, find out what his status is. Not good enough to win games consistently. But you know what? We won this game. So that's what we tried to do is win the first one and then we get better every week.

On the importance of the win…
TA: Very high. I knew that. I never said it to our team. We have a phrase here, and our kids know this. I say, hey, this is the most important game of the season. Why? They'll say because it's the next one. Okay. But I knew. I knew. I knew what we've been through. I knew what this game meant. And, yeah, I mean, it's just -- it's huge.

And it's not -- I get it, you know, it's not a top 25 team. But you guys know wins last year. We haven't sung that stinking fight song for a long time after a win. And this team's been through so much. And they've continued to fight and battle and battle and battle and battle. And they did it tonight.

So, I couldn't be more proud. It's a huge win for us. And like I said, comment all they want but I could freaking care less. I know this team. I know how much this meant to this football team. And this is a big deal. Yeah, we've got to get a whole lot better, and we will. But you know what? I'm proud of them. They fought and they found a way to win. That's what we've got to find a way to do every single week.

On if someone talked to the team in the fourth quarter that rallied the team together…
TA: Yeah. It's Cam Jones. So, at the end of the fourth quarter -- as you know, you saw the sequence. So come out of halftime. We got a six-point lead. We get the ball. You want to drive down, go score and really put the control on the game. And the opposite happens. We throw the pick. They end up scoring. And now they're up by a point and it obviously stayed that way until the last few seconds of the game.

So, at the end of the third quarter, Cam Jones -- so we brought the team up. I spoke to them first and tag teamed to him, and he finished it off. And the whole message was find a way to finish and win this game. And he believed we were going to find a way. And that's all we talked about. Even when there was not much time left and we were on the goal line, we had to get a goal line stand. Who made the play on the goal line? Cam Jones.

So, it just -- those are special things. And, you know, Big 10 wins are hard. Every win is hard. I've learned this being here long enough. You get excited about every win. I don't care who you play. They're a hard win, it's tough to win. And it's even tougher to get Big 10 wins because of all of the resources everybody puts into this thing. Just really proud of them. And if I had to single out anybody, it would be Cam.

On how his team was able to rally for the game-winning drive…
TA: I think when you -- Fish asked me this question I think it was on the press conference on Monday about how do you know about the character of your team or just what your team is about. You know, in the off -- do you really know yet. And you don't really know for sure. I think the games reveal all that stuff.

But I had a gut feel that this is who we are just from the workouts. Just from the Sunday morning meeting after the Purdue game a year ago. And those guys were the ones that were in my room in my office meeting with me face to face and saying things are going to change. They're the guys out there today making plays at the end. And that's what makes it special.

And so I think that that -- that, to me -- so we had a guest speaker a few weeks ago, and he made this statement. He said, Greatness leaves clues. And I wrote that down when he was speaking. And I actually re-said it to our guys. Started talking about the clues I think this team has left to me and why I felt like we have a chance to be special as a team.

Like I said, I know we've got a lot of work to do. But when I mean special, I mean a team that has unbelievable grit and fight to find a way to finish, because that's what it takes to be great in this life is to have perseverance and passion toward a long-term goal.

So to me that's what this team displayed to me. And you rely on your leaders for that. And you train them for these moments. And we have an amazing strength staff. And we talk about our conditioning and winning the fourth quarter. We made a huge deal about that and how we're going to play on offense and how we're going to play on defense. We're going to play a whole bunch of guys on defense, which we did. And we still -- we didn't do a good enough job stopping the run consistently. But we got three takeaways and we had a huge goal line stop. And we got our offense the football. We kept giving our offense a chance -- our team a chance to win.

And then our offense, just like a couple years ago, it might have not been pretty in between, but, boy, we found a way to finish the game off a couple years ago here on this field. And this time we did it with the fans watching in person, which is pretty cool. But -- so that, to me, is a great thing to have those qualities. And like I said, I can talk about it, they've got to go experience it. And they just did tonight, which is pretty awesome.

On if the defense looked like he wanted it to against Illinois…
TA: Partly. The takeaways -- we actually dropped one we should have had. And then there was a fumble that I can't believe -- I could have got it, you know, from the sideline I thought but -- just laying there forever. And so we should have had more takeaways.

But in this game, the way it's played today, they're going to get yards. Okay. You've got to limit them from scoring touchdowns. You've got to get takeaways. That's what we did tonight. You hold a team to 20 points or less in this day and age of football, that's pretty good. You're going to be one of the top defenses in the country.

But, still, much to work on. But, you know, I'm proud of some things about it, saw some signs of it, not nearly close to being satisfied with it. But a good starting point because, once again -- this is the other thing too, you know, with all the injuries that we had a year ago, we were really, really careful in how we practiced to the point where I was a little concerned about going into a game and playing 80, 90 snaps of live tackle. We've never done that the whole time. We were trying to keep our guys healthy. We went live for sure and we did tackle. But we were just trying to find ways to do that both in the spring and in the fall. We tackled less live than I've ever in the history of my coaching career in the last -- during fall camp and during spring football. But at the same time, you know, we've just got to continue to build off of that and -- but I also think this. Chase Brown is a really good running back. He is put together, he is quick, he is explosive. And I think he's one of the top running backs in the Big 10, without question. So we didn't tackle him very good. And number one jitters we're going to see. He's a really talented receiver that's great guy. I thought we missed too many tackles. And I didn't like how we stopped the run from goal line to goal line. But we did it when we needed to.

On Cam Camper and D.J. Matthews being playmakers…
TA: It's impressive. We had two guys over 100 yards for the first time in a while. What's the stat on that? We don't have that yet. Figure that out there, bugaboo.

But, you know, Cam Camper to me is a great story. Came out of high school and was really small. He had a huge growth spurt both in weight and in his height and kind of became a different kid. Was not highly recruited. But when I put his film in from the junior college, I was like how is this kid not a guy that everybody's trying to get?

So we got to know him, loved him as a person, thought he was a great fit for us. I know I've talked about him. I'm not shocked by tonight. I thought he was special in practice. And I just -- I know DJ -- we had to get him healthy and get him back. But we've got several others too that have a chance to be really, really good.

So that is just going to take some time. But that time will come. You can see, we've got a talented quarterback that can get them the football. Just got to keep getting better in the run game and better up front. We will. Proud of Cam and proud of DJ. What a story. That guy's been through a lot. And, you know, was close to kind of deciding it wasn't worth it anymore. But he and I spent a lot of time together. So I love that kid. Awesome. Have a great night.

LEO.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
_{124338-1-1822 2022-09-03 05:10:00 GMT}

Indiana Student-Athletes
Cam Camper | WR | Jr.
On the last drive's two-minute drill…
CC: "Honestly just trying to get to our spots, we know they aren't going to all be pretty all the time during two-minute drill with the defense dropping eight. So it's on me, just have to get to our spots, and that is something that we practice every week. We're real big on two-minute drill so it just felt natural to us."

On trusting QB Connor Bazelak down the stretch…
CC: "It's really just a trust thing. He knows we are going to get to our spots. I told him on the sideline, I'm going to get to my spot, just get the ball out and I got you. Honestly, that was the first time I've seen Connor talk for real, and I was kind of happy to see that. It was good to see him keeping us positive after certain plays, telling us it was good and we would get another one. The game kind of brought out Connor being a leader honestly.

On shaking off nerves after his fumble…
CC: "Just the next play mindset, the 'so what?' mindset. You have to move on, there is nothing you can do about it so just have to move on."

Aaron Casey | LB | Sr.-R
On Cam Jones' rallying speech at the end of the third quarter...
AC: He was pretty much just telling us to keep going, [that] we prepared for this, and our moment is now. We're going to show Hoosier Nation we're back, and this is a new team, a new era, and we're going to keep pushing and find a way to win.

On defense's goal line stop...
AC: We knew that they were a heavy run team and down on the goal line we knew it was probably going to be a run, so the coaches called up a blitz and luckily me and my other teammate, JH Tevis, he was able to come through with me, and we ended up making the play in the backfield.

On playing aggressive defense under Tom Allen...
AC: Under Tom Allen, I feel like the defense as a whole is more confident, and the types of plays we're running, the execution part of it, the type of preparation we had leading up to the game, the walkthrough this morning, everything was clean. Thursday practice was clean, so it was just like a whole bunch of preparation went into it.

DJ Matthews | WR/RS | Gr+
On being in rhythm with Bazelak…
DM: Oh yes, no doubt. Me and Connor completed a lot of passes in fall camp. He is always on target and throws a lot of catchable balls, and I have a pretty nice rhythm with him.

On winning late…
DM: It is unbelievable. I can say Coach Allen has been emphasizing all the teamwork this year has built, so it was great to see us come out and rally as one and finish the game.

On his touchdown…
DM: At the snap we were all split. They were in Cover 2. The safeties got off the hash, and I was actually, supposed to go across the field but I kept it in and it just threw me open. The line was terrific with the blocking - clean pocket for him execute the pass and see me.

Shaun Shivers | RB | Sr.+
On the last touchdown of the game…
SS: I just told myself that I had to bounce back. The first play of the game, it was a big hit, and I couldn't breath. I would tell myself the whole game, "I've got to bounce back from that." Because I know everybody over there was talking about it over there, "Oh, he got hit, he got a big hit." I knew I had to bounce back. I told myself to make the biggest play of the game, and I did.

On what happened during the first play of the game…
SS: When he came and hit me, I just got the wind knocked out of me and I couldn't breathe. Nothing was wrong, I just couldn't breathe. I was just trying to get some air.

On what he saw behind the offensive line…
SS: They ran something different what we schemed up. They ran something totally different. We were trying to see what we could run. We were getting two or three yards a play. This is a small little piece, but the biggest thing was that making big passes up the middle deep. DJ (Matthews), Cam Camper. Them boys do their thing.

Brett Bielema | Illinois Head Coach
Opening Statement...
BB: Very frustrating. Got a disappointed locker room. If there was any positive notes, I think it really hurts these guys, they put in a lot of work since last January to where we are today, not just the last week preparation for these guys, but they've put in a lot for the rest of the season. Two opportunities are behind us, ten guaranteed in front of us. So, got a lot of work to do, I've said it since the day I got here to the point we are at right now. I've been in this business long enough where right before you can win you have to stop the losing, and I think we did enough things as coaches and for me as a head coach that I have to obviously do a much better job of emphasizing the things that we self-inflicted today. I can literally go through offensively, defensively and certain phases of the game, just nonsense things that we need to clean up, to have a couple of those penalties, but we do some things to overcome it.

I think a critical point in the game, it just felt like it was right there for us to push it over the edge. (Brian) Hightower claimed up and down that he caught that pass in the back of the endzone and it went to replay, I think that wasn't just a mental play for our kids, but they really, Brian, was just animated that he caught that. So, I think if that would've happened, but the game is made out of would've, could've, should've. So we have to overcome those moments. I think the part that was positive, we had a lot of guys, we are paper thin at certain positions, so Julian Pearl (OL) wasn't available for the game, but we moved Isaiah Adams out to Left Tackle, Jordyn Slaughter went in there. I know we rushed for some good numbers, we weren't able to rush in the most critical moment down there in the little red area to come away with a score. I think from a health standpoint, we came out a little good, Taz who obviously couldn't be out there at the beginning of that last phase, he'd been nursing himself through a little bit of a soft tissue, didn't know we'd have him this week, he found a way to make a go, but for the most part we came out of it pretty healthy, but it's going to be a big week ahead of us, got the long drive back home, we got to hydrate, it's been a long game here today. Obviously, one we have to make sure we recover from.

Tomorrow the guys will have a day off, by NCAA rules we didn't take one on Monday, so tomorrow we'll hopefully learn a lot about our players and how they recover and get themselves ready for Sunday practice and Virginia on the backside.

On changing the gameplan the last drive...
BB: At halftime, I did make reference to both sides of the ball, we'd rushed for over 100 yards, I think they had 12 yards at the half. For Indiana to win the game, they had to throw the football right. There was a couple critical plays there that we have to make sure what we're doing defensively, make sure we're not giving them easy access, to deny some leverage on some routes, I think we're playing some improper leverage, but it wasn't one call. As much as it comes down to that last drive, it shouldn't of come down to that last drive. That game should of been won midway through the third quarter when we came out got a defensive stop and our offense went down and did what they did, obviously the turnover on defense, then the offense to take advantage of it. I think that's the point where a good team, or a team we hope to be can put the foot on the gas and take it away.

On the decision to go for it on 4th down...
BB: Really just felt like we had been pushing ourselves right to the brink, had a couple situations where we didn't come away with points. I thought defensively, we were playing really good football, so that was probably the biggest decision more than anything. We felt good about the call. We had several timeouts. I know, obviously, the result was a failure, so that's on me 100%. I thought at that time we'd go up two scores and kind of take the game. For a team that's trying to learn how to win, I think we needed that buffer to win this game. I think defense made a stop right away and came back with it, so the momentum swing we'd hopefully avoided didn't prevail, we've got to come away with points. I thought a couple of those field goal opportunities could've been touchdowns, even that play there at the end, Caleb (Griffin) hit the long field goal, but again self-inflicted penalty that could've put us in a situation to possibly go for it.

On learning how not to lose...
BB: Well, I think we have to be really honest with our coaches. There's a play we turn the ball over on a backwards pass, it's not supposed to be that way. So, we have to have better design concept to make sure that doesn't happen, that's on me. Every aspect of the game, offensive, defensively I think we just have to make sure what we're teaching and what we're saying, we're demanding we get. It's football 101, to make sure that we can put ourselves in a position to be successful. I think that our coaches have done a great job building relationships with our players, and it's in moments like this where you're going to really going to rely on those relationships because this is a tough one to lose. This time in the season early on against a Big Ten opponent on the road, we did about everything we could to mess this up and in the end, the only thing we can do is learn from this because if we don't, history will repeat itself again.

Players Mentioned

Connor Bazelak

Cam Camper

Aaron Casey

Cam Jones

Shaun Shivers

JH Tevis

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